Emerson's Rhetorical Devices

Within just the first paragraph, the reader can already detect a metaphor. Emerson says that “a man should learn to…watch that gleam

An aphorism, by definition, is an observation that contains a general truth, or a concise statement of a scientific principle. In simpler terms, it is something a person can use to guide their own path in life. Everyone has their own path to follow, and any one person can create their own. Some aphorisms are easier to comprehend, like Benjamin Franklin’s, “Honesty is the best policy”, which is one that most people know and understand. Others, however, are not so easy to understand. These aphorisms, which tend to give the mind a little more work, are usually the most reliable.

Emerson starts off his piece with imagery of the unity between man and nature. He personifies nature: “Nature says-he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me.” (Emerson 91) This connects humanity with nature as if we exist as equal, as if we are dependent on each other.

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance, he passionately expresses his views on individualism. Emerson’s views on individuality are views of following oneself’s own thoughts and passions, rather than fearing men and following the world. The speaker is successful in getting his point across with the use of allusions, anaphora, and thought triggering metaphors.

Many people rely on the opinions of others, never truly stopping to personally consider the subject at hand. Ralph Waldo Emerson, an impactful American writer, wrote a piece entitled Self- Reliance. In Self-Reliance, Emerson’s purpose is to promote ideas of individualistic thinking. Emerson uses strong, rhetorical strategies, such as figurative language, allusions, and complex syntax and parallelism to effectively persuade his audience to trust their own thoughts.

“The eye was placed where one ray shall fall, that it might testify ray shall fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. Bravely let him speak the utmost syllable of his confession” (Emerson). Emerson uses personification, giving “the eye” the ability to talk and confess such as a human would. He does this as a representation of people. Fear of embarrassment or rejection keeps us as people from expressing our feelings and views of the world and God, the “divine idea” of which we as people of the world represent brings us to shame.

In Emerson's views, people should “not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”(citation). Based on Emerson’s thoughts, people should not follow the crowd, but instead live their lives and leave their mark on the Earth. Emerson thoughts come from a philosophical movement of the nineteenth century called transcendentalism. Transcendentalism focuses on religious renewal, literary innovation, and social transformation (encyclopedia.com). Because of their belief that God exists in everyone and nature, and that knowledge comes from individual intuition, led to the highlight of individualism, self-reliance, and breaking free from traditions(citation). In the movie the Dead Poets Society, Mr. Keating “[stands] upon his desk to remind [himself] that we must look at life

Emerson’s idea about self-reliance is doing what makes you happy and not worrying about what people will think of you; alsfheo doing things individually. In the passage, he says that every person has the potential for accomplishing amazing things without the negative effect of society; this is accomplished through the power of self-belief. Emerson also talked about how people should not follow the rules (not in a rebellious display) in order to express individualism. Regarding these beliefs, I side with Emerson because I believe that people should be themselves and not allow society to tell them how to act. On the

When one lives in self-reliance and protest against the general state of spirituality they would be called a Transcendentalist. A movement in the 1820s to 1830s really brought attention to this. Authors like Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and even a popular film called Dead Poets Society. When one is in this state of self-reliance and Transcendentalism they will usually find happiness in themselves before anyone else. They will follow the steps of Emerson in “Self-Reliance”, Thoreau in “Civil Disobedience”, and the theme of the film Dead Poets Society. Within the writings of these authors there are both benefits and consequences of living self-reliant and “sucking the marrow out of life”.

decisions based on your own beliefs. As expressed in the maxim, the ideals of transcendentalism and

In a search for non-conformity ideals, Christopher McCandless used Henry David Thoreau’s transcendentalist ideologies, he drew from Thoreau’s book Civil Disobedience, explaining the importance of non-conformity. Thoreau conveys non-conformity cannot be achieved as the government is influencing the people and restricting them from discerning for themselves between fact and fiction. In the following excerpt Thoreau states, “The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men, but as machines, with their bodies” (3). This quote can be related to how men are perceived as machines unable to think for themselves, solely relying on the government to make decisions for them. Moreover, Thoreau shows society constricts non-conformity from occurring through the use of propaganda. Initially Chris was a machine being controlled by societal norms due to his familial standing and wealth. Chris made the decision to seek out a non-conformist lifestyle, due to the dishonesty and abusiveness he endured within the family dynamic. According to Ralph Waldo Emmerson, self-reliance is necessary in achieving independence. Emerson states “…envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide”. This quote reflects that

Emerson implies that people need to be true to themselves and do what they want and what they think is right and not what society says. Emerson was going to seminary school and he was told that he had to follow certain rules and go to church every Sunday. However, did not feel like if he didn’t go to church every Sunday, that he would be any lesser of a person. Society saw it the opposite of him. His friend asked him what if your desires are from the devil himself and he replied with, “...if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil” (Emerson 364). In this quote, it implies that Emerson believes that a someone should not be a conformist and stay true to what they believe in and himself. Emerson’s idea is displayed through Huck when he

As the creator of the transcendentalists, Ralph Waldo Emerson was known for his astounding published in 1836 called “Nature”. During his time before being known for his writing, he was just a man who was into his work and would think of them as just stories and will never publish them. After publishing “Nature”, in 1841, Emerson was being read by people throughout the U.S and England after being know from his previous work. Emerson is a man who was considered as a great spokesman of the 19th century and was a rebel by believing in what he believed; by cultivating ourselves with whatever troubled us and what we saw what wasn't right for us the people. As a well-educated man, within the inside of himself he had a respect for Jesus as a man, but not as the holy one. This was something Emerson felt and what he believed in. Emerson considered himself

The American Philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote Self-Reliance as an inspirational essay that has inspired many lives with his influential words. Emerson tries to deliver a message to every individual by persuading them to make their own rules, and not to follow society’s rules. Ralph Waldo Emerson has become the inspiration of America with the wise words he shares with humanity. Moreover, he pictures a whole different world, where every individual is accepted by society. But, in today’s society it can cause many conflicts between people.

In the essay, “Self- reliance” (1841), Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American transcendentalist philosopher argues that “absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world…” Emerson believes in the sanctify of the individual by juxtaposing his perceptions of an individual’s idea of one’s self (“imitation is suicide”) with ideas of the societys views on an individual (“trust thyself”) He contrasts the idea of how an individual thinks about one’s self with how they should think about herself in order to convey his transcendental views; in fact, Emerson’s use of rhetorical questions (“Who so would be a man”) makes the reader question the meaning of life and her aspect and view on themselves. Emerson seems to address society because